


Temperamentality of Fate

by MiddleKeyFangirl



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Attempted Murder, Character Death, F/M, Last Kiss, Medical Trauma, Murder, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Stabbing, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23570152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiddleKeyFangirl/pseuds/MiddleKeyFangirl
Summary: There was something about being slumped against a wall, rebar through your abdomen, as you watch your attacker walk away with your blood on his hands.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 15
Kudos: 37





	1. In which her fate is cruel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [multipliiehearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/multipliiehearts/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Calls To Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18022193) by [multipliiehearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/multipliiehearts/pseuds/multipliiehearts). 



There was something about being slumped against a wall, rebar through your abdomen, as you watch your attacker walk away with your blood on his hands. And on his jeans. And on his shirt.

Selina stayed motionless as he exited the little abandoned building. _Great_. 

Surviving a severed spine was one thing. Miraculously recovering the ability to walk was another. But this? This, she knew, there was no coming back from. Or maybe she was wrong. Weird things happen in Gotham. Sometimes the "dead" don't stay "dead".

She grunted, unable to move much without excruciating pain radiating from the two-inch wide bar in her side. She could hardly breathe, the bar moving every time her chest heaved. So she would wait, then take a giant, trembling breath, which only made the pain worse.

She didn't want to die. But she wasn't sure there was much else she could do. She felt like she was dying. She'd never died before, but she'd imagine that was what it felt like.

Her body felt weak, limbs heavy and numb. Blood was pooling beneath her, soaking through her jeans. It was, in her mind, the worst part. It was sticky and hot around her legs, and it filled the whole room with the sharp smell of copper. But at least the pain was slowly fading. Or maybe the bar was becoming a part of her. It really wasn't the time for jokes. She just needed to be distracted.

She reached a shaky hand into her pocket, trying to grasp for her phone without moving her body too much. 

Although it was the least of her worries, she couldn't help but think about the bloody fingerprints she'd be getting on her phone. The thought remained as she dialed Bruce's number.

Elsewhere, Bruce was driving with Alfred heading towards a rather important event. His phone rang in his pocket, and he ignored it, mostly. But after it stopped ringing it only started again. And again. And again. He grumbled angrily and relented, answering the call.

"Hello?" He answered, voice gruff.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Selina joked, chuckling briefly before the bar shook and sent shockwaves through her body. She let out a small cry and her hand flew to the wound as fast as the tears welled in her eyes.

"Selina? Are you in trouble? Why did you call? I have an event."

"Oh man," Selina sighed, eyes closing as she rested her head back on the rotting wood wall. "Now's a bad time then, right?"

"Yeah."

She smiled, pain clearly visible through it.

"I'm just going to have to give it to you straight," she said. "I'm in real bad shape, Bruce."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. She could picture the expression.

"If this is some kind of game-"

"Oh for fuck's sake-" the sudden increase in volume meant an intake of more air. She won herself another jolt from the rebar sticking out of her abdomen. She cried out again, louder this time, weakly slamming the floor next to her. "Bruce- can you-" She clenched her teeth against the continuing pain and her spinning head.

"Selina?" Bruce looked at Alfred nervously. He signaled for Alfred to stop the car. "Selina, where are you?"

"Some abandoned apartment complex down Kalma street."

"Are you going to be okay until we get there?"

"No," she scoffed, tears spilling. "Oh, God, no." She pushed her head against the wall, eyes closed tightly, trying to block out the pain.

"Alfred's driving there now," he said, worry growing in his voice. "And he's called an ambulance."

"It's not going to help," she practically whispered. She could feel her entire body getting heavier, and her skin getting colder.

"Selina?"

"I'm dying," she deadpanned. "Like I'm actually..." she motioned to her abdomen, as if he could see it. "I've been stabbed with a massive fucking rod. And I'm so damn tired. I just want it to be over."

"The ambulance will be there soon," he assured her. "And we'll be there in two minutes, max. Can you just hold on a little longer?"

"There's no hope, Bruce!" She practically yelled, as loud as she could muster in her current situation. "I- I'm sorry!"

"For what?" He shouted back into the phone.

"For being a shitty friend!" She let out a strangled whine, trying to shift herself onto the ground. She finally got there, lying flat, chest rising irregularly.

"You're not a shitty friend. You're not a bad person." He sounded more worried. She could hear him breathing. "Selina you're my best friend."

She would have rolled her eyes, but the room was already spinning, and to be honest, she needed a little bit of what he was giving her. A little love before she inevitably bled out on the moldy floor of an old lobby.

"Can you just- can you keep talking?" The question came out weak, weaker than anything she'd said before. Her eyes were so tired. She was fighting tooth-and-nail to stay awake. There was a lump growing in her throat.

"Selina-"

"Please." Her voice cracked as the first tear fell. She was scared. So, so scared. Bruce has only heard her like this once.

Bruce was silent for a moment. "You're my only friend, Selina. You're the closest thing I have to family besides Alfred. I'll be damned if I let whoever attacked you walk free."

"Chivalry isn't dead," she smiled weakly. _But I will be_. She wished her mind would stop racing.

"Selina-" she could hear doors opening and closing over the phone line, and through the thin decaying walls of the building.

”Bruce?” She sniffed, eyes slowly navigating to the doors of the building. “Bruce, I’m here.”

She saw him push open the rotting doors to find her, horror flashing in his eyes. He didn't think it was this bad. He wasn't sure what he was expecting.

She sobbed in relief, body wracking and pain jetting through her body. Bruce ran to her and grabbed her blood stained hand.

"Selina- it's- you're going to be okay," his eyes sped across her body, trying to find some ray of hope. But her hand was cold as soon as he picked it up, and he could see the color draining from her face.

He looked at the rebar. Her eyes followed his to it. She reached a shaky hand to its rusted surface. She wanted to pull it out so badly. Just so things would end faster. But the way Bruce was looking at her, begging her to live, she just let go.

She stopped trying to fight. She let her hand fall, and her eyes fall half-lidded.

"Bruce," she muttered.

"What?"

"I'm not going to make it," she admitted. Although he knew it, he hated to hear her say it.

"Yes you are," he was panicking. Not crying, or yelling, but the lack of color in his face was similar to Selina's, and his breaths were shaky. She could tell he was trying to swallow around the lump in his throat. "Yes you are. You have to- I don't have any other friends. And-" 

The sound of distant sirens interrupted him.

"They're almost here," he breathed, standing up.

"Please stay," she asked weakly, tears falling. He looked her in the eye, revealing he was crying too. "Please."

He kneeled down next to her again, leaning down to press his lips to her forehead. She whined, turning her head towards him.

He came back up, staring at her, as she stared at him.

"Kiss me," she said. 

"Selina-"

"Don't give me that 'you're not going to die' spiel," she spoke. "Just please. Assume the worst."

His face was red now as he fought to hold back tears. But when he leaned in to kiss her, she could feel the warm drops hitting her cheeks. She reached a weak hand up and wiped a tear away, before setting it down again as he pulled away.

"I'm so tired," she whispered, head light.

"Selina- they're almost here. I can hear them," his voice was louder, begging her to stay alive. "Selina"

Selina had passed out, eyes open but body motionless. Bruce panicked, shaking her shoulders with more force than he really needed. If she was awake, it would have jerked the bar in her abdomen painfully.

The sirens were loud. They were maybe a block away.

He pressed two fingers to the pulse in her neck, throat constricting as he felt it slow.

"Selina," he begged, useless as she splayed out, unconscious on the floor. 

Slower heartbeat. Louder sirens.

Slower. Louder.

Miniscule. Blaring.

By the time the doors opened, Selina Kyle was dead.


	2. In which he's there with her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate ending 1/2

There was something about being slumped against a wall, rebar through your abdomen, as you watch your attacker walk away with your blood on his hands. And on his jeans. And on his shirt.

Selina stayed motionless as he exited the little abandoned building. _Great_. 

Surviving a severed spine was one thing. Miraculously recovering the ability to walk was another. But this? This, she knew, there was no coming back from. Or maybe she was wrong. Weird things happen in Gotham. Sometimes the "dead" don't stay "dead".

She grunted, unable to move much without excruciating pain radiating from the two-inch wide bar in her side. She could hardly breathe, the bar moving every time her chest heaved. So she would wait, then take a giant, trembling breath, which only made the pain worse.

She didn't want to die. But she wasn't sure there was much else she could do. She felt like she was dying. She'd never died before, but she'd imagine that was what it felt like.

Her body felt weak, limbs heavy and numb. Blood was pooling beneath her, soaking through her jeans. It was, in her mind, the worst part. It was sticky and hot around her legs, and it filled the whole room with the sharp smell of copper. But at least the pain was slowly fading. Or maybe the bar was becoming a part of her. It really wasn't the time for jokes. She just needed to be distracted.

She reached a shaky hand into her pocket, trying to grasp for her phone without moving her body too much. 

Although it was the least of her worries, she couldn't help but think about the bloody fingerprints she'd be getting on her phone. The thought remained as she dialed Bruce's number.

Elsewhere, Bruce was driving with Alfred heading towards a rather important event. His phone rang in his pocket, and he ignored it, mostly. But after it stopped ringing it only started again. And again. And again. He grumbled angrily and relented, answering the call.

"Hello?" He answered, voice gruff.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Selina joked, chuckling briefly before the bar shook and sent shockwaves through her body. She let out a small cry and her hand flew to the wound as fast as the tears welled in her eyes.

"Selina? Are you in trouble? Why did you call? I have an event."

"Oh man," Selina sighed, eyes closing as she rested her head back on the rotting wood wall. "Now's a bad time then, right?"

"Yeah."

She smiled, pain clearly visible through it.

"I'm just going to have to give it to you straight," she said. "I'm in real bad shape, Bruce."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. She could picture the expression.

"If this is some kind of game-"

"Oh for fuck's sake-" the sudden increase in volume meant an intake of more air. She won herself another jolt from the rebar sticking out of her abdomen. She cried out again, louder this time, weakly slamming the floor next to her. "Bruce- can you-" She clenched her teeth against the continuing pain and her spinning head.

"Selina?" Bruce looked at Alfred nervously. He signaled for Alfred to stop the car. "Selina, where are you?"

"Some abandoned apartment complex down Kalma street."

"Are you going to be okay until we get there?"

"No," she scoffed, tears spilling. "Oh, God, no." She pushed her head against the wall, eyes closed tightly, trying to block out the pain.

"Alfred's driving there now," he said, worry growing in his voice. "And he's called an ambulance."

"It's not going to help," she practically whispered. She could feel her entire body getting heavier, and her skin getting colder.

"Selina?"

"I'm dying," she deadpanned. "Like I'm actually..." she motioned to her abdomen, as if he could see it. "I've been stabbed with a massive fucking rod. And I'm so damn tired. I just want it to be over."

"The ambulance will be there soon," he assured her. "And we'll be there in two minutes, max. Can you just hold on a little longer?"

"There's no hope, Bruce!" She practically yelled, as loud as she could muster in her current situation. "I- I'm sorry!"

"For what?" He shouted back into the phone.

"For being a shitty friend!" She let out a strangled whine, trying to shift herself onto the ground. She finally got there, lying flat, chest rising irregularly.

"You're not a shitty friend. You're not a bad person." He sounded more worried. She could hear him breathing. "Selina you're my best friend."

She would have rolled her eyes, but the room was already spinning, and to be honest, she needed a little bit of what he was giving her. A little love before she inevitably bled out on the moldy floor of an old lobby.

"Can you just- can you keep talking?" The question came out weak, weaker than anything she'd said before. Her eyes were so tired. She was fighting tooth-and-nail to stay awake. There was a lump growing in her throat.

"Selina-"

"Please." Her voice cracked as the first tear fell. She was scared. So, so scared. Bruce had only heard her like this once.

Bruce was silent for a moment. "You're my only friend, Selina. You're the closest thing I have to family besides Alfred. I'll be damned if I let whoever attacked you walk free."

"It's a little late for that," she muttered, returning a hand to the bloody metal piece protruding from her abdomen.

She tried to listen to Bruce, but her brain couldn't focus. She'd never been high before, but she assumed this is what it would feel like. Like floating, no pain, body limp and eyes heavy. He was calling her name into the phone, but she couldn't register it.

She stayed that way until he burst through the door, shouting her name. 

"Bruce-" she looked at him. He was kneeling at her side in an instant.

"Shit-"

She was suddenly aware of a bloodied man entering the building. The same man that had impaled her and left her for dead.

"Bruce- he's back," she muttered, fear filling her body though she knew she would be dead soon anyway. The man was approaching angrily, and Bruce was too panicked to notice anything. "Bruce-"

By the time he turned around, it was too late. The man kicked Bruce in the throat, throwing him back from Selina. He choked, trying to claw his way back to Selina, only earning himself a kick to the gut.

"Stop it!" He cried hoarsely. Where was Alfred? He must not have seen the man come in to finish the job.

The man growled, wrenching the rebar out of Selina, eliciting a scream of agony. Her hand flew to the rapidly bleeding wound, trying desperately to slow it and stop the pain.

Bruce had been knocked back again. He screamed and charged, trying to tackle the man. Bruce moved swiftly, but the man was faster.

The rebar was thrust through his abdomen. Bruce inhaled sharply, falling to his knees. Selina looked at him helplessly, tears streaming down her face and mixing with droplets of blood on the dirty floor. The man ripped the metal harshly from Bruce, running away as Bruce grappled at his wound in a panic.

Bruce fell over onto Selina, both of them gasping and crying out in pain. Their sounds slowly got quieter as the pain numbed and their eyes fell half-lidded.

"I shouldn't have called you," Selina admitted weakly. "I shouldn't have brought you into this."

Bruce's head was on her chest. He could feel her breathing, and hear her heartbeat. He weakly reached out to grab her hand, looking at her face.

Their fingers intertwined, sticking together with warm blood that had been pooling beneath them.

He wanted to say he loved her. But he didn't want to make it seem like their death was imminent, even though they both knew it was. And he didn't want to say something so strong like that to her, scared of ruining their last few moments together. 

She felt the same.

"I don't care," he said, meaning it. He had accepted his fate at this point. He was never really afraid of his own death. 

Selina's death, on the other hand, scared him in a way he had felt with very few people, including his parents and Alfred.

"I got us both killed," she muttered. They were silent, save for their labored breathing.

"Maybe the ambulances will get here soon," Bruce tried to be hopeful.

"They won't." Selina's heartbeat was growing fainter. Bruce started to cry. Not loud enough for her to hear, but she could feel the slight tremble in his body.

He gripped the bloodied material of her shirt as if she were the only thing he had left. And at that moment, she was.

"Are you crying?"

"Y-yes."

"Me too."

Her heart slowed, her breathing grew irregular. She was teetering on the edge of death.

"Goodbye Selina," he muttered, gripping her shirt tighter.

She wanted to say it so badly. But instead, she weakly patted his head. "Thank you, Bruce."

When her heart stopped beating, he let out a sob. He reached up and touched her face, leaving fingerprints of blood on her cold, pale cheek. Her eyes were closed peacefully, almost as if she were asleep. 

He knew his time was limited, but there was not much else to do. She couldn't hear him, or respond to him. But he said it anyway.

"I love you."

And with that, he closed his eyes as well.

When Alfred brought in the paramedics, they knew immediately the two were dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY I KNOW I SAID I WAS GOING TO DO AN ALTERNATE ENDING BUT IT WASN'T ORIGINALLY THIS ONE. I SWEAR THE ALTERNATE ALTERNATE ENDING WILL BE OKAY.


	3. In which her fate forgives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate ending two.

There was something about being slumped against a wall, rebar through your abdomen, as you watch your attacker walk away with your blood on his hands. And on his jeans. And on his shirt.

Selina stayed motionless as he exited the little abandoned building. _Great_. 

Surviving a severed spine was one thing. Miraculously recovering the ability to walk was another. But this? This, she knew, there was no coming back from. Or maybe she was wrong. Weird things happen in Gotham. Sometimes the "dead" don't stay "dead".

She grunted, unable to move much without excruciating pain radiating from the two-inch wide bar in her side. She could hardly breathe, the bar moving every time her chest heaved. So she would wait, then take a giant, trembling breath, which only made the pain worse.

She didn't want to die. But she wasn't sure there was much else she could do. She felt like she was dying. She'd never died before, but she'd imagine that was what it felt like.

Her body felt weak, limbs heavy and numb. Blood was pooling beneath her, soaking through her jeans. It was, in her mind, the worst part. It was sticky and hot around her legs, and it filled the whole room with the sharp smell of copper. But at least the pain was slowly fading. Or maybe the bar was becoming a part of her. It really wasn't the time for jokes. She just needed to be distracted.

She reached a shaky hand into her pocket, trying to grasp for her phone without moving her body too much. 

Although it was the least of her worries, she couldn't help but think about the bloody fingerprints she'd be getting on her phone. The thought remained as she dialed Bruce's number.

Elsewhere, Bruce was driving with Alfred heading towards a rather important event. His phone rang in his pocket, and he ignored it, mostly. But after it stopped ringing it only started again. And again. And again. He grumbled angrily and relented, answering the call.

"Hello?" He answered, voice gruff.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Selina joked, chuckling briefly before the bar shook and sent shockwaves through her body. She let out a small cry and her hand flew to the wound as fast as the tears welled in her eyes.

"Selina? Are you in trouble? Why did you call? I have an event."

"Oh man," Selina sighed, eyes closing as she rested her head back on the rotting wood wall. "Now's a bad time then, right?"

"Yeah."

She smiled, pain clearly visible through it.

"I'm just going to have to give it to you straight," she said. "I'm in real bad shape, Bruce."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. She could picture the expression.

"If this is some kind of game-"

"Oh for fuck's sake-" the sudden increase in volume meant an intake of more air. She won herself another jolt from the rebar sticking out of her abdomen. She cried out again, louder this time, weakly slamming the floor next to her. "Bruce- can you-" She clenched her teeth against the continuing pain and her spinning head.

"Selina?" Bruce looked at Alfred nervously. He signaled for Alfred to stop the car. "Selina, where are you?"

"Some abandoned apartment complex down Kalma street."

"Are you going to be okay until we get there?"

She inhaled shakily. “I don’t know.”

She closed her eyes. 

"Selina. Please be okay?" Bruce sounded genuinely hurt. She laughed weakly.

"I can't make any promises." 

"Just try." He was practically pleading. That seemed to scare her more than the injury itself. She started to cry, hiding it to the best of her ability. "We'll be there soon."

Selina's muscles seemed to give up as her arm lowered to the floor. She could still hear Bruce through the phone, but couldn't make out what he was saying. She could breath a bit more peacefully now, and she didn't want to mess it up, so she just stayed stone still, trying to stay conscious as her head spun.

She didn't register Bruce's face when he kneeled over her, screaming and holding her close to him. She couldn't feel the weight of him on her chest hugging her, getting as close to her as possible without moving her and the rebar still protruding from her abdomen. She never heard the sirens. Never saw James Gordon come into the building, or Alfred pull Bruce away from her as the paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher.

The first thing she remembers is the awful scratchy blankets the hospital had. She had stolen better blankets than that. 

The second thing she remembers is the sound of the heart monitor and how annoyed it made her.

The third thing, and the most prominent, is Bruce Wayne.

He was asleep in a chair next to her, arm propped up to support his head and mouth hanging open. She wondered how long he had been sitting there. Or how long she had been out. Or what if she was actually dead?

She looked around. Selina had long ago reasoned with herself that, if there was an afterlife, she'd never get to heaven. But looking around the room, it was too nice to be hell. So she moved her body slightly and the jolt of pain informed her that she was, in fact, alive.

She shifted again, careful not to hurt herself. She looked at Bruce, his head so close he could use her stomach as a pillow had it not been practically mutilated.

She reached a hand to his hair, scratching his scalp gently with her fingertips. It was relaxing, and she found her eyes remarkably heavy, though she knew she had just woken up. She assumed that was normal.

Bruce stirred, wiping his eyes. He seemed peaceful until he suddenly jumped, suddenly grabbing Selina by the wrist. She looked at him, startled. He looked at her and realized his mistake, blinking as he let her hand go.

"I'm sorry. I'm a little on edge," he said.

"Oh gee," Selina smiled. "It wouldn't be because you've dedicated yourself into finding my attempted killer, right?" She smirked. She could read him like a children's book.

"Since you got picked up I've been working it," he sighed, rubbing his eyes again. "I talked to detective Gordon and we found some witnesses. He's looking for the guy. About an hour ago I... I wanted to see how you were doing."

"So how long was I out?"

He looked at his watch.

"A little over a day. You had an emergency surgery."

"Obviously." 

She chuckled, looking into his eyes. He wasn't smiling. His eyes were full of tears.

"Selina I was really scared," he said weakly. "I thought you were going to die."

"That makes two of us," she smirked. He didn't smile back. Just grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I'm serious."

She looked at him confused.

"You really care about me?"

He looked at her, face reddening.

"Of course I do."

It was silent for a moment.

"I love you," he whispered.

She picked her head up, looking at him quizzically. "You what?"

He huffed.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Kiss me, you dumbass."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around gang.

**Author's Note:**

> I really didn't want to kill her so there's going to be an alternate ending. If not for you, for me.


End file.
